Gunbattle in Fallujah, Iraq: US, Jordanian forces open fire on Iraqi Police

[Lawrence of Arabia]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/09/12/sprj.irq.main/index.html

What a cluster****

[Combat Ingrid]

U.S. forces fired on both the police and suspects, witnesses said.

[Sava]

I wonder if the US will use this to help recruit new Iraqi police forces...

"Uncle Sam wants YOU! ... to become a policeman so we can shoot you!"

I dare speculate on what a US soldier might say when interviewed about the incident.

"They're Iraqis, and they had guns... so I shot at them. They all look the same to me."

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Witnesses said the vehicle that Iraqi police were pursuing got away.

[Kropotkin]

**** happens. Many of the american soldiers are propably so stressed up by mines and random attacks that they look at everyone as an enemy. It's hard to tell if there's something about the incident that makes it a understandable misstake. It doesn't look good in any case.

[Sava]

Sadly, this event illustrates the fact that the US Armed forces ARE NOT A POLICE FORCE. Send the UN peacekeepers NOW!

[Combat Ingrid]

This reminded me of the marines in "Aliens":

Look I'm telling you there's something moving and it ain't us!

[SpencerH]

UN peacekeepers are not a police force either.

[Kropotkin]

True, but some countries with a lot of experience of UN peacekeeping, not something the US got, ought to be better than the american army.

[Sava]

Originally posted by SpencerH
UN peacekeepers are not a police force either.

funny, they seem to be doing all right in Kosovo...

[Boris Godunov]

Oh, woohoo, the U.S. has gunned down more innocents...Har har har...

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Kropotkin
True, but some countries with a lot of experience of UN peacekeeping, not something the US got, ought to be better than the american army.

Given the long and glorious history of UN peacekeeping forces around the world, I'm sure they would do just great.

[BeBMan]

Seriously, why does the US have these problems with peacekeeping? They must have experience from previous missions, they participated on the Balkan too. And what is with Military Police - wouldn´t they be right for a lot of tasks? Or are generally not enough MP forces available? Just wondering....

[Kropotkin]

As far as I can remember, the US forces usually leaves after the action is over, leaving the everyday work to others.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Sava
I wonder if the US will use this to help recruit new Iraqi police forces...

"Uncle Sam wants YOU! ... to become a policeman so we can shoot you!"

I dare speculate on what a US soldier might say when interviewed about the incident.

"They're Iraqis, and they had guns... so I shot at them. They all look the same to me."

Nice spin, but don't let anything like a fact get in the way. From the linked article:

"Iraqi police said that the shooting began when three gunmen in a BMW fired at their station in Fallujah, 43 miles (about 70 kilometers) west of Baghdad. The police said they pursued the men in unmarked vehicles and fired at them.

U.S. forces fired on both the police and suspects, witnesses said.

"The shooting started at about 1 in the morning," one witness said. "It got heavier and heavier.

So unmarked vehicles running amok at 1 am firing weapons is a US ****up? Get real. It's a war zone, and when shooting starts, especially at night (ever worn night vision gear?), the guy who hesitates to try and figure out what's going on is the guy most likely to get hosed.

There's a real simple rule of survival: "When in doubt, wipe 'em out."